During the ongoing health care reform debate taking place in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) has worked to ensure that family planning and women’s reproductive and preventive health services are covered by the health reform bill. He has also led the fight against key anti-choice amendments offered by Republican Senators.
Last Thursday, Dodd co-sponsored and fought for passage of the Mikulski amendment on women’s health. The amendment provides coverage of women’s reproductive and preventive health services with little or no cost-sharing and ensured patients’ access to essential community providers. The amendment passed the committee with Dodd’s strong support on a vote of 12 to 11.
Yesterday, Dodd led the opposition to four anti-choice amendments offered by Republican Senators. These amendments would have overridden federal privacy and confidentiality protections and prevented insurance plans from covering abortions. If these amendments had passed they would have restricted the ability of women to needed reproductive health services as part of health reform. With Sen. Dodd’s opposition these amendments each failed on votes of 11 to 12.
"Health care for all means health care for all. And we cannot allow critical services to be denied to women based on the ideological concerns of a few," said Dodd. "That is why I opposed the anti-choice amendments. It is also why I am proud to support ongoing efforts to ensure women have access to family planning and reproductive health services."
"True healthcare reform means services and access for everyone, and Sen. Dodd understands this,” said Teresa C. Younger, Executive Director of Connecticut’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Women. “His leadership continues to be critical in preventing narrow ideological agendas from derailing the focus away from the full range of options, which includes a woman’s reproductive rights, her privacy and her safety."
